elobeatlesforever (elobf) was originally launched in February 2009 to campaign for the release of the original, full 18-track version of ELO's seminal 1983 album 'Secret Messages' including that long-lost gem 'Beatles Forever'. ELOBF has now expanded in scope to also include news on all things ELO; highlighting those links with its progenitors The Beatles and The Move whilst also reporting on ELO's many incarnations; friends; relatives and interested parties.

This album in places could be described as progressively edgy ... and it is. There is a heavier overall feel to the collection of eight new songs that are "Jack's Bazaar" yet also a lighter underside too. This is an album that is no more experimental or progressive than early ELO between '72 and '73. First up are the heavy guitar riffs and raw power of the first three rasping songs which are the title track "Jack's Bazaar", "Mr. Mystery" and "Heavyweight". These songs exude power and clearly mark a maturity in the song craft and production of Mr. Hackett.

Contrast that with what comes next. The sheer rock of the first three album openers give way to the jangly guitar and clever unpolluted astronomy of "The Sky At Night" and the dreamy, maritime yearnings of "Sailing Away" before the masterpiece that is "We Have The Right To Starlight" reaches the eardrums. Track #6 is an instrumental beauty with sublime guitar licks, throbbing bass and superb synthesised strands that simply must be a nod, if nothing else, to the work of ELO keys maestro Richard Tandy. A real credit to the programming skills of its creator and my album favourite and, in my opinion, it could easily be mistaken in places for a lost track from the "Time" or "Secret Messages" sessions.

This impressive album closes with a return to rockier themes and some fantastic guitar work a la The Beatles' "She's So Heavy" and The Move's "Brontosaurus". "The Mouth" is a mini-opera in and of itself, sure to please die hard prog rock lovers and rockers alike. The finale is the lyrically darker "I Spawned A Monster" - another track that ELO fans will love with its similarity to keyboard wizardry of "Daybreaker" in places and its oft change in tempo.

"Jack's Bazaar" is one of those records that you don't tire of even after many, many listens and is a pleasure to review. Thirty eight and a half minutes of class. [9/10]